Top 5 Players to watch at Champions Istanbul

We are mere days away from VCT 2022 - Champions Istanbul, and teams have already started settling in the unfamiliar venue of Istanbul and running practice scrims to iron out their strategies before going out on the stage. From the 16 participating teams, here are five players you wouldn’t want to take your eyes off of.

XSET Cryocells

While every player’s contribution on XSET is vital to its success, no player has had a bigger impact on the team’s performance than Matthew "Cryocells" Panganiban. Cryocells was a part of SoaR’s roster until NSG 2022 Winter Championship - Online Open 5, following which XSET decided to introduce him to their roster for the VCT 2022 season. A 1st place finish at VCT 2022 - North America - Stage 1 - Open Qualifier 1 paved the way for the team to play amongst the best teams in the region. In the qualifier event, Cryocells was arguably the most consistent player finishing the event 1.44 Rating and 291.5 ACS despite playing 13 matches at the event.

He retained his position at the leaderboard once again at the Main Event falling only second to Cloud9’s Nathan "leaf" Orf. Both these players were miles ahead of their competition consisting of generational talents like Jaccob "yay" Whiteaker and Trent "trent" Cairns. At VCT 2022 - North America - Stage 2 - Main Event the team had a fascinating Upper Bracket run, and ultimately a Grand Final win against OpTic Gaming. Apart from the Lower Bracket finals against FaZe, where his contributions were crucial in avoiding elimination, his Ratings and Combat score had encountered an overall decline especially at the Grand Finals where other players had to step up.

Even though XSET faced rapid elimination at their first International event, VCT 2022 - Stage 2 - Masters Copenhagen, Cryocells did well on his part against both OpTic Gaming and Leviatan Esports. With a questionable performance at the Masters, XSET will be hungry for redemption at the Champions event and Cryocells will have to significantly outperform his peers if the team wishes to make it to the final stages of the event.

FPX ardiis

One of the most dominant EMEA teams in the 2022 season, FunPlus Phoenix were unable to travel for VCT 2022 - Stage 1 - Masters Reykjavík due to international sanctions, a news that saddened the entire Valorant community. Instead of backing down after the setback, the team returned stronger than ever in the subsequent stage qualifying for VCT 2022 - Stage 2 - Masters Copenhagen as EMEA’s 2nd seed, which subjected them to the tedious Group Stages. Despite a surprising loss against DRX, FPX managed to make the Playoffs.

To their dismay, it was Fnatic that they faced in their inaugural matchup. With a loss in their first round, they began a tough journey through the Lower Brackets toppling one reputable team after another including Fnatic in a much-anticipated rematch, and also OpTic Gaming, the winners of VCT 2022 - Stage 1 - Masters Reykjavík. Paper Rex awaited them at the Grand Finals. After an extremely close series between the CIS team and Paper Rex, they lifted the trophy by fighting till their last breath. You may be asking where does Ardis "ardiis" Svarenieks fit in to this picture. Without him, they wouldn’t have qualified for the event, let alone leave Copenhagen as the Champions.

He helped the team navigate out of tough situations including the Lower Bracket run during the EMEA Challengers, and then during the last round of Grand Finals at Copenhagen. His consistency earned him a spot amongst the top 10 players at the event. At the upcoming Champions, his skills will be further put to the test and it will be interesting to see if he can thrive under such pressure.

Tacolillalzh

It is likely that most international fans are unaware of Vicente Ignacio "Tacolilla" Compagnon Quintar considering their only appearance on that stage being in the recent Masters event, which too ended after three brief matches. However, if you keep tabs on the LATAM scene, then you would be no stranger to the impact he has had on the team.

Despite playing only Chamber on every map, he managed to top the leaderboard at VCT 2022 - LATAM - Stage 2 - Challengers Playoffs with 255 ACS and 162.2 ADR. As the statistics dictate, he was an essential element to the team’s win against Fusion, where he was named the MVP with 92 Kills, and also against KRÜ Esports, which led to their eventual qualification to Copenhagen.

100T Bang

Another young NA talent that deserves the spotlight is Sean "bang" Bezerra. bang had been an inactive member of the TSM Valorant roster since early September 2021. Being signed in the midst of the last year, he was only able to demonstrate his abilities for the team in Stage 3 of VCT where the team was able to win VCT 2021 - Stage 3 - North America - Challengers 2 but placed 7th-8th in the following tournament: VCT 2021 - Stage 3 - North America - Challengers Playoffs. He was acquired by 100 Thieves as part of their efforts to form an entirely revamped roster.

Bang was a highly anticipated prospect in North America and he has lived up to the hype on several occasions. From an analytical standpoint, basing Bang’s performance on mere statistics would be unfair given the Agents he mains. Furthermore, with players like Peter "Asuna" Mazuryk being on the roster, it is no surprise that the opportunities to frag out decrease significantly.

Despite these factors, bang ranked in the top five players at VCT 2022 - North America Last Chance Qualifier, and also emerged as the winners of the event granting them a spot at their first international event of 2022. Unless the nerves of playing in front of the crowd and on the international stage get to him, the audience should expect some mind-blowing plays coming their way.

ZETA Dep

Finally, Yuma "Dep" Hisamoto might be an unfamiliar name to many as well since his performance during ZETA DIVISION’s captivating run at Reykjavik wasn’t substantial as he finished with a sub-par 0.94 Rating. ZETA earning a 3rd place at VCT 2022 - Stage 1 - Masters Reykjavík became a trending topic around the globe especially since Japan has historically struggled to perform at major international LANs, and the team's goal going into the tournament, after all, was to atleast win one match.

In the recently concluded VCT 2022 - Japan - Stage 2 - Challengers Playoffs, however, he seemed more in control of his performance as he finished the event with 1.25 Rating on 240 ACS. The unusual aspect of his gameplay lies on the Agents he has experimented with in the last three months, playing a total of six different Agents in the last three months alone playing no Agent more than twice. Although this strategy has significant drawbacks, it proves Dep’s versatility and the potential he has to go berserk once he finalizes a particular Agent.